SINGSON, ATONG NAMED IN JUETENG / ATONG: I'M 150% VS ILLEGAL GAMBLING
[PHOTO AT LEFT - Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago denounces �merchants of poverty� at the Senate yesterday. MANNY MARCELO]
MANILA, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 (STAR) By Christina Mendez - Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago yesterday named the top jueteng operators and protectors in the country and said that the illegal numbers game still flourishes due to the blessings of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
�The equation DILG plus PNP equals jueteng means that illegal jueteng consists of a conspiracy between the interior secretary and the police chief,� Santiago said in her privilege speech.
The senator said the two top government officials are the �prime beneficiaries and ultimate protectors� of illegal numbers games.
She dissected the entire backbone of the jueteng anatomy nationwide, linking an incumbent governor, a political ally of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a gambling consultant, a brother of a police general and a long list of local executives from Sangguniang Bayan members to congressmen and local police officers from the municipal to the national level as among those who are involved in an extensive protection racket.
Santiago revealed that about P118.1 million a day is collected from 42 cities and provinces from seven regions in Luzon and Metro Manila.
Top five in the senator�s list of jueteng kingpins are Atong Ang, Tony Santos, Danny Soriano, Aging Lisan and Bong Pineda, husband of Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda.
Citing her own intelligence reports, Santiago claimed that the interior secretary and the PNP chief receive P300 million in jueteng payola a year �to be divided according to agreement.�
She identified Ilocos Gov. Chavit Singson as the main operator in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and La Union, a certain Bonito Singson as operator in Abra, and a certain M. Urduja/Boy Bata in Pangasinan.
In Region 1, the senator said the daily income for Ilocos Norte is P2 million; Ilocos Sur, P2 million; Abra, P900,000; La Union, P800,000, and Pangasinan, P9 million.
In Region 2, Santiago said Atong Ang, also known as Double A, operates Virtual 2 in Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela which earn P1.5 million and P3.5 million, respectively.
In Cagayan, a certain Danny Soriano, reportedly a brother of police Gen. Jefferson Soriano, operates jueteng (1-37) with a P1.4-million daily take and Quirino (P300,000). The operator in Benguet (P1.2 million) and Baguio (P1.5 million) was not identified.
Santiago, however, commended Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo because there was no �jueteng to speak of� in her province.
Santiago cited reports reaching her office that Bong Pineda operates in Nueva Ecija with daily revenues of P7.5 million; Bulacan with P8 million/day; Pampanga, P9 million; Angeles City, P1.5 million and Bataan, P3 million.
No particular operator was identified in Tarlac, the home province of President Aquino, but she said that there is a reported P3.5 million daily revenue from jueteng operations.
A certain Col. De los Santos is said to be operating in Zambales, which has P1.5 million daily earning; and one Aging Lisan operating in Olongapo, which accounts for P1.1 million daily revenue.
Santiago: Puno should resign
The senator said after her speech that Undersecretary Puno should gracefully step down because of the embarrassment he has caused President Aquino.
The senator, however, made it clear that current Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo should be spared because Puno has admitted that the chief executive has assigned him to oversee peace and order, the PNP�s jurisdiction.
In linking the DILG and the PNP to the jueteng protection racket, Santiago noted that the DILG exercises control over the PNP and supervision over local governments.
Unless the government takes drastic action, Santiago said jueteng will not end today or for years to come.
�Jueteng will end only four and a half billion years from now, when planet Earth is expected to die. Before then, big stars will explode in supernovas, dwarf stars will turn into black holes, gravity will create new stars, planets and galaxies, the planet Earth will commune with alternate universes, and in the Philippines, jueteng will still continue,� said Santiago, who was in a red suit.
She said jueteng is the crown jewel of any new administration, noting that operators are usually busy courting presidential candidates during elections.
After throwing exorbitant cash contributions, she said, �these racketeers would steer the grateful president to appointing their blushing man as DILG secretary.�
Merchants of poverty
Santiago described the DILG secretary and the PNP chief as the �merchants of poverty� who operate with impunity until the next administration.
She said both officials enjoy one percent of the jueteng gross receipts every month, or one percent of the annual receipts of some P30 billion, equivalent to about P300 million divided by two every year.
Santiago warned that if jueteng continues unabated, the Philippine president will someday be elected on the basis of who gets the biggest jueteng contribution.
However, Verzosa�s lawyer came out yesterday to answer the senator�s allegations.
�That�s another wild accusation and retired PNP chief Verzosa denies that in strongest terms. Senator Santiago has long been at loggerheads with former Secretary (Ronaldo) Puno and has always been her favorite target. Retired chief PNP Verzosa has no personal issues against her and is ready to face any charge that Sen. Santiago may file in court should evidence warrant,� lawyer Benjamin de los Santos said.
PNP officials up in arms
A day before Santiago�s expose, PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo and five regional police directors in Luzon have all countered allegations that jueteng continues to proliferate in their respective areas due to the huge payola protection racket from operators.
Regional director Chief Superintendent Orlando Mabutas maintained that the PNP has conducted all-out operations against illegal gambling in Region 1, adding that jueteng �does not exist in Ilocos Norte because of STL operations.�
However, he said jueteng is conducted through guerrilla operations in Pangasinan.
Chief Superintendent Alan Purisima, Central Luzon police director said he has ordered an intensified campaign against the illegal numbers game in his area since he assumed office on Aug. 3.
Aside from Mabutas and Purisima, Chief Superintendent Benedict Michael Fokno, PRO2 regional director, Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, regional director of PRO-4 Calabarzon, and Chief Superintendent Artemio Hicban, regional director of the Police Regional Office of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan (MIMAROPA), also submitted to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee their respective affidavits to negate the claims of retired archbishop Oscar Cruz.
Chief PNP slams Cam�s claims
Bacalzo, in an affidavit submitted at the Senate hearing, belied the claims of jueteng operator-turned-whistleblower Sandra Cam that he was receiving millions in jueteng payola.
�I totally and unequivocally deny all allegations of Ms. Sandra Cam as pure lies and speculations, made without factual or legal basis, ill-motivated and designed merely to malign and destroy my name for whatever reason unknown to me,� Bacalzo said.
Bacalzo said he has reviewed the transcripts of the Senate hearings on May 30, 2005 and June 9 and 12, which Cam alluded to.
�It is very revealing that nowhere in the transcripts of records of the Senate hearings or at no time during the Senate hearings did my name appear or was ever mentioned,� Bacalzo said in his affidavit.
He noted that Cam�s statements were �full of inconsistencies and assumptions.�
PCSO manager also hit
In another affidavit, Romualdo Quinones, manager III who is assigned at the Special Projects Department of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), also submitted an affidavit before the Senate, categorically denying that he has received any payola from jueteng.
�I have no knowledge and/or participation on the matter of the alleged jueteng operations, payola or payoffs,� he said.
Quinones, who was invited to the Senate�s hearing as a resource person, said he was given an additional assignment as member of the Project Steering Committee of the PCSO Small Town Lottery project, and as head of the STL Project Management Office.
Santiago has alleged that Quinones was also in the payroll of jueteng operators.
ATONG: I'M 150% AGAINST ILLEGAL GAMBLING
(STAR) By Cecille Suerte Felipe - Gaming consultant Charlie �Atong� Ang and Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis �Chavit� Singson denied yesterday allegations that they are involved in jueteng.
Calling himself a legal gambling lord, Ang said he is into cockfighting and jai alai, which is legal in his area of operation, the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Free Port.
�Simula umpisa, never ako na-involve sa ganyan; 150 percent sa pagkatao ko against sa illegal gambling (From the start, I was never involved in that; 150 percent of my person is against illegal gambling),� Ang said.
For his part, Singson dared yesterday Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to show proof that he was the main operator of jueteng in the Ilocos Region.
�Hindi ako jueteng lord, hindi ako operator (I am not a jueteng lord, I am not an operator). She should not release information without evidence,� Singson said.
Ang told radio station dzMM that he has no record of ever operating illegal gambling and that jueteng was his pet peeve.
Ang said he works as a consultant for gaming company Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone (CEZA).
Virtual 2 is a form of jai alai, not jueteng as alleged by Senator Santiago, he added.
Ang said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) are not allowed to operate jai alai.
However, the CEZA charter allows jai alai within the free port, he added.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Singson said Santiago�s allegations are baseless and selective since she did not include her husband, former interior undersecretary Narciso Santiago Jr.
Singson said Santiago�s baseless expos�s are destroying reputations.
He was forced to cut short his trip to South Korea to clear and defend his name, he added.
Singson said jueteng cannot be stopped because betting in the numbers game has become part of Filipino life.
�As they say, if you can�t beat them join them. Let�s just legalize jueteng operations,� he said.
Responding to Singson, Santiago�s office issued the following statement:
�The overwhelming majority of Filipinos know what kind of person Gov. Chavit Singson is and his brand of morality.
�In the same vein, the Filipinos know what kind of person and public servant Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago is. Both their lives are open books. The more than 16 million Filipinos who voted for Sen. Santiago in the recent elections voted for her because they believe that she has the courage and will to fight corruption in government.�
Dy: My brother has no links to jueteng
Meanwhile, Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy III denied yesterday allegations of retired archbishop Oscar Cruz that his brother, Isabela Rep. Napoleon Dy, is involved in jueteng.
�As far as I know, my brother has never been and will never get involved in such activities,� he said.
�People can investigate the situation if there is jueteng in the province. Our family will never countenance any illegal acts by anyone, friend or family member.�
Dy said he and his family are willing to invite Cruz to find out for himself if jueteng exists in Isabela.
Rep. Dy said he was ready to face a Senate inquiry, not to testify against or for other groups or individuals, but to explain his side.
Dy said jueteng has been an age-old problem which the government has been trying to solve.
�Each administration tries to come out with a solution to this problem, but it always comes back,� he said.
�What I know is that in Isabela, there are STL (small-town lottery) operations run by the PCSO and Meridien Vista Gaming Corp., a Spanish firm with franchise from (CEZA).�
Isabela police director Senior Superintendent Jimmy Rivera for his part said jueteng does not exist in the province.
�There is no jueteng in Isabela or else we would have arrested them,� he said.
�Neither are there bookies operations here.�
Governor to Cruz: You�re biased
Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. accused yesterday Cruz of being biased and malicious in linking him to jueteng.
Speaking on GMA Dagupan Television, Espino said Cruz should consider the serious impact of his allegations against him.
�You are a servant of God and a very influential person,� he said.
�Do your advocacy in a proper way and think about the feelings, honor and dignity of the people you criticize.�
Espino said Cruz should be more cautious, especially that his expos� is not backed up by strong evidence.
�I haven�t slept for two nights already,� he said.
�It (allegation) was so serious. I did everything I can as governor then suddenly, my name was dragged into jueteng.�
Espino said his 88-year-old mother could not eat because she believed the allegations of Cruz that he is involved in jueteng.
�My mom, she believes so much Archbishop Cruz,� he said.
Cruz should have validated first the list of jueteng operators given to him, he added.
His lawyers are studying the possibility of filing a libel case against Cruz, Espino said.� With reports from Charlie Lagasca, Eva Visperas
BIR to go after jueteng lords for tax evasion By Iris Gonzales (The Philippine Star) Updated September 24, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (15) View comments
MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will conduct lifestyle checks on suspected jueteng operators and their alleged protectors in government.
BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said their investigation would take off from the lists of past and present officials allegedly on the take from jueteng operators. Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz presented his list to the Senate last Tuesday. Sen. Miriam Santiago presented her own list the following day.
�Whoever is mentioned in the long list will be subject to scrutiny,� Henares said.
She said that the BIR would check whether the income tax returns filed by those on the list are reflective of their lifestyles.
�It is but normal and natural for the BIR to investigate when information is given to us,� Henares said.
The checks will cover residential properties of the suspected jueteng operators and protectors, their vehicles, travels and even the schools of their children.
Cruz�s list included the names of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno and former Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa.
In New York, President Aquino ordered authorities to gather evidence against those on the lists to make sure they land in jail if found guilty.
�We must have sufficient evidence to win the case in court, have the accused prosecuted and jailed, whoever they are,� Mr. Aquino told reporters here.
�We received lists and they are being evaluated now by the concerned authorities. Let me just repeat, if we are not able to prove anything, then we will not be able to file anything in court. If we�re not able to file anything in court, then we don�t gain anything, nothing will happen,� he said.
Mr. Aquino, however, said his political foes might be using the issue to create discord in his young administration.
He also said he would not seek evidence from Cruz even as he scored the prelate�s refusal to talk to him.
�He gave us a lead, thank you. Now it is up to the agencies to evaluate. So let us first allow them to find proof of whether there is basis (for filing of cases) or not,� Mr. Aquino said.
�Well, we already have a plan,� he said referring to steps being undertaken by DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo to eliminate the illegal numbers game.
�We have at least a conceptualization of what we should do and (Robredo) already gave this to us,� Mr. Aquino said.
In Manila, Robredo said he would validate the information revealed by Santiago on jueteng payola.
The President said he would not try to earn brownie points by having bet collectors arrested while allowing big time operators to stay in business.
�Now, I don�t want to show off and arrest a few who are small time because I want to run after the chief. I also want to make sure that we will not be creating bigger problems by stopping jueteng,� he said.
�So we need a good and comprehensive plan. We cannot just rush things and guess,� Mr. Aquino said.
�There are really those who are into jueteng who are trying to continue with their happy days. Now, as what I have been saying repeatedly, that is not in accordance with the law and will not be allowed,� Mr. Aquino earlier said.
He said he had received information that a jueteng lord had been liquidating his assets.
�The bottom line is, there is a law that says jueteng amongst other games is illegal and the law has to be upheld and enforced,� he said.
Policy review
But for Vice President Jejomar Binay, a review of the government�s policy on jueteng is in order.
�Probably it is high time to review the position of the government in the light of what has transpired. There were proposals in the past,� he told Palace reporters in Malaca�ang, where he administered oaths to several appointees.
Asked if he meant legalizing jueteng, Binay replied: �I am open to revisit the government�s policy. Maybe it�s time to check if it can be legalized.�
His position clashed with that of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. who stressed in a House hearing that legalizing jueteng �is not an option� under the administration.
Ochoa voiced the administration�s position in response to Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla�s question during a hearing by the House appropriations committee on the proposed P4.1-billion 2011 budget for the Office of the President.
�We are aware that this (jueteng) has been going on. Jueteng is illegal and that is the only position the President has on this,� Ochoa said.
�The administration will do its best to stop it, but this effort will require the participation of every sector since it involves culture,� he said.
After the hearing, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters that President Aquino would give the beleaguered Puno �due process� before deciding what to do with him.
�The sense of the President is to give due process to everyone, friend or foe, and that includes Usec Puno,� he said.
He said the President has asked Ochoa to study what could be done to Puno, his shooting buddy, who has offered to submit a courtesy resignation over the jueteng issue.
At the House of Representatives, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday he was not worried the image of the House of Representatives would be tarnished by reports that some lawmakers were involved in jueteng even as he supported moves for a congressional inquiry into the matter.
Belmonte, however, cautioned the public against making wild accusations.
�These are all allegations and as somebody said it�s so easy to make a list,� Belmonte told reporters.
�People should not be so quick and easy with the names and reputations of people,� Belmonte said.
Isabela Rep. Napoleon Dy, who was among those named, denied the allegations and pointed to Charlie �Atong� Ang as the one behind illegal gambling operations in the country. Belmonte said he is against legalizing jueteng.
PNP appeals
PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo, meanwhile, has called on the public to help the police gather information on jueteng operators, their protectors, and even bet collectors as part of their renewed drive against the illegal numbers game.
�We call on anyone who has information on the operation of illegal gambling to come forward and help us put a stop to these illegal activities,� Bacalzo said.
�We will sustain the conduct of raids and other police operations against those involved in the proliferation of this nefarious activity. We will file cases so all those arrested will be charged in court,� he said.
�We will investigate and bring violators to court, according to the law,� the PNP chief said.
�We have the same objective (that is) to rid our country of jueteng and all other forms of illegal gambling,� said Bacalzo. �We have said, time and again, that jueteng is a multi-dimensional problem that needs the cooperation of all sectors.� With Aurea Calica, Jess Diaz, Paolo Romero, Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mike Frialde, and Sandy Araneta
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